Diving apparatus.



C. P, DARSSIN.

DIVING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.8, 1912.

Patented Oct. 28, 1913.

2 BHEETS*SHEET 1.

G. F. DARSSIN.

DIVING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 8, 1912.

Patented Oct. 28, 1913.

2 SHEBTS-BHEBT 2.

ll lllrll ll (id L flL E ENT tllh l llfllh CHARLES DARESIN, O15 BROOKTQN', 1VIASSAGHUSE'1TS.

.TJ IV 1N6 .EtPPARALTUE.

Application filed August 8, 1912.

To all wiwli't it may concern Be it lmown that l, Crnumns l Danssin, subject of the Emperor of liussia, residing at Broclrton, in the county of Plymouth and Eltate of lllassachusetts, have invented cer tain new and useful Improvements in Diving Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to submarine work, and particularly to a diving shield or chamber whereby divers may be lowered to the bottom of a body of water and to accomplish work therein.

The primary object of my inventio1ris to provide a diving shield or chamber having a form particularly devised to resist great pressure and adapted to inclose one or more divers.

A further object is to provide a diving shield or chamber of the character before stated with port holes, lighting devices, and with a plurality of sleeves of flexible material r of sections flexibly connected, into which the diver may pass his arms and whereby he may attend to his work without having to leave the chamber or shield.

A further object is to provide a diving chamber or shield of the character described having a propeller and a motor carried within the chamber for operating the pro peller, the shield being also provided with a rudder operated from within the shield or chamber whereby it may be directed so as to accurately place it in adjacency to the work to be accomplished.

A further object is to provide a shield of this character with a weight attached to the lower portion thereof whereby it may be lowered to the bottom of the sea, this weight comprising a weight containing cylinder into which more or less ballast may be placed as desired.

A further object is to provide means whereby a diver may investigate the bottom of the body of water within which the chamber has been sunk.

()ther objects will appear in the course of the following description.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings who "ein:

Figure l is a erspectivo view of my improved diving siield. Fig. 2 is a bottom plan view thereof. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal vertical section from front to rear of the shield. Fig. i is a transverse section on the line i t of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a detail section Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented (lot. 28, 1913. Serial No. 714L099.

showing one of the sleeves through which the diver puts his arm.

Corresponding and like parts are referred to in the following description and indicated in all the views of the accompanying drawings by the same reference characters.

.lzteferring to these drawings, 2 designates a diving shield or chamber comprising a shell of any suitable material, this shell having the form of a right rectangular based octahedron, that is, it is symmetrical about three axes of unequallengths, the

axes being at right angles to each other. This form of shell presentsa wedge-shaped contour at the front of the chamber, a wedge-shaped contour toward the rear of the chamber, and a wedge-shaped contour extending from the middle of the chamber downward toward the bottom thereof and a wedgeshaped contour extending from the middle of the chamber to the upper end thereof. It will thus be plain that the shield may be readily moved through the water in, any direction, and that it will offer as little surface obstruction as possible, not only in moving horizontally but in moving vertically. The interior of the shell is preferably braced by ribs designated 3 which are disposed at intervals from the upper end of the shell to the lower end thereof, these ribs being preferably one on each side of the bell and joined at their forward and rear ends by vertical members a which extend down at the vertical corners of the shell. These arcuate braces 3 are of such width as to provide a series of steps and platferl'ns, as they may be termed, disposed within the shell but are cut away at the middle so as to provide acentral passage 5 by which access may be. had to any portion of the shell. Mounted upon one of these platforms formed by the ribs 3, or on any suitable platform that may he aranged within the bell, is a motor 6, the shaft 7 of which extends out through the shell and in particular through the rear edge thereof and is provided with a propeller 8. Dis posed below this propeller is a rudder 9 mounted in any suitable manner and adapted to be actuated from the interior of the shell. As illustrated, this rudder is provided with a rudder post carrying a bevel gear wheel 10 at its upper end which engages with a bevel gear wheel 11 mounted on a shaft 12 extending in through the shell and supported in suitable bearings, this shaft 12 having a steering wheel or like device 13 attached thereto. The exterior of the shell is preferably reinforced by crossed strips or braces 14 of metal or other suitable nu terial which extends from one corner of the shell to the diagonally opposite corner thereof and are riveted to the shell. The shell is provided at convenient points with lamp port holes 16 behind which electric lamps or other lights may be placed and with sight port holes 15 closed by bulls eyes of glass or other suitable material whereby observations mav be made. These ports 16 and 15 may be located at a iety oi. points around the shell so thatobservations may be taken in all directions. The shell is also pro-v l L "ith a plurality of arm openings designated 1? from which extend sleeves designated 18. These sleeves may be made of rubber, leather or other flexible material and are preferab y braced internally so as to preven the pressure. of the water ircm collapsingthesleeves. Each sleeve terminates in a glove 19 which preferably formed integral with the sleeve. These sleeves are preferably placed in pairs so as to accommodate both arms of a worker, the pairs of sleeves being located on each side of one of the light ports 16 and one of the observation ports 15. Preferably there is a pair of sleeves located on each side of the front of the shield, thus permitting the operator to work on either side of the shield at the front thereof or to use the two adjacent sleeves for the purpose of working in front of the shield. I do not wish to limit myself to the dis aosition of these sleeves as more than two pair may be provided, and they may be disposed in any suitable portion of the shield.

Preferably the lows" end of the shield or chamber is provided with an extension designated 20 having a hinged cover 21, this cover being formed with a lamp port 15 and an observation port 16 This cover is ordinarily locked in place but it may be opened in order to permit entrance to the shell from the under side.

A. weighted body or weight container is flexibly connected to the lower end the shell. Such a weight container is illustrat d in Fig. 1 and as shown consists of a cylindrical shell designated 22 having conical ends or caps. The interior of the shell is hollow and the upper portion of the shell is formed with an opening 23 whereby the shell may be filled with ballast to any degree required to counterbalance the buoyancy of the shell. This is preferably connected to the shell by means of a flexible connection which is attached at its ends to the corners of the lower end of the shell and passes through eyes carried upon the weight container 22.

The upper end of the shell is formed with a door opening 26 closed by a suitable water and air tight door 27. It will be understood that all the doors or covers for openings are to be air tight. and water tight.

The shield or chamber is supported by means of flexible connections 28 which extend to any suitable winch or like apparatus of a vessel or support whereby the shield or chamber mav be raised or lowered as desired and drawn along to any particular locality in woich the divers to work. The air tube enters the upper end of the chamber 22 and if electric lights are used, an elec tric light wire 30 also enters the shell, the openings for this tube and wire being, of course, provided with means preventing the entrance of water or the loss of air.

The operation of this invention will be obvious from what has gone before. The shield is drawn by any suitable means to the general locality in which the apparatus is to work and is then lowered. After it has been lowered a sufiicient depth, the divers by observation decide upon the course which will bring the shell in position for the work to be done and will then operate the propeller 8 and the rudder 9 so as to drive the shell to the position sought and guide it accurately. hen in position, the diver operates by means of the sleeves 18 and gloves 19. Picks, shovels, crow-bars or like devices may be lowered to thedivers or suspended upon the outside of the shell so as .to be in convenient position to the gloves 19. The cord 31 may be used for supporting these tools. It will be obvious, of course, that when the hinged cover 21 of the extension 20 is opened, water will enter the lower portion of the diving shield but that the air within the shield will prevent filling the shield with water and that the divers may operate through this extension and that it they are equipped with proper diving suits, they can pass out from the shield through the door in the extension.

What I claim is:

1. A diving shield or chamber comprising a shell having the form of a right rectangular based octahedron, and reinforcing pieces extending diagonally across the sides of the shield and crossing each other.

2. A diving shield or chamber including a hollow shell, flexible connections extending from the bottom of the shell, and a ballast container connected to the flexible connections, said ballast container including a hollow cylindrical shell, open for the entrance of ballast.

3. A diving shield or chamber comprising a hollow shell having a manhole at one end and an extension at its bottom end, a door closing the lower end of the extension, said door being provided with an observation port and a light port, and a ballastcontaincr flexibly suspended from the lower end of the shell.

l. A diving shield or chamber having approximately the form of a right rectangular based octahedron, and opposed series of bowed ribs in spaced relation disposed With- 5 in the shell, bracing the same and forming a series of steps and platforms.

A diving shield or chamber having approximately the form of a right rectangular based octahedron oppositely placed verti- O oally disposed braces at the forward and rear edges of the shield or chamber, and 0p positely disposed series of spaced longitudinal braces extending each from the forward brace to the rear brace, said braces being o bowed at the middle to provide a central passage, said braces constituting a vertical series of steps and platforms.

6. A diving shield or chamber having approximatelv the form of a right rectangular l octahedron, and comprising a metallii shell having a manhole opening in the upper end of the shell, a manhole opening in the lower end of the shell and ports in the side of the shell, oppositely disposed vertical braces mounted in the front and rear corners of the shell, oppositely disposed series of oppositely bowed braces extending from the front and rear braces and forming a series of steps, and means operated from Within the shell for controlling the movement of the shell.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence 01' two Witnesses.

CHARLES F. DARSSIN.

Witnesses SAMUEL V. SHARoon, T. ALBERT TABER.

Gopies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. C." 

